“Change”
By: Justin Waggoner, Ph.D., Beef Systems Specialist
“Change is inevitable” and often creates a sense of unease for many individuals. However, we have faced an unprecedented amount of change in the past few months. We have changed how we work, how we live, how we buy groceries, and many other things. Some of these changes have been small and some have been large. Why do we fear change? Change is not always bad, but experts agree that most employees within an organization express some degree of fear and resistance to change. The reality is that the fear of change within an organization is created because employees simply do not understand why the change is happening. A 2018 article in the Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2018/10/dont-just-tell-employees-organizational-changes-are-coming-explain-why offers suggestions on communicating change in the workplace.
Keep employees informed with regular communications. Communication is essential to successfully navigating change. Communication should be clear and consistent and focus on the purpose of the change (the why).
Empower leaders and managers to lead and model the change. Leaders and managers often face more pressure/resistance from employees than administration. Providing managers with additional training or resources equips them to drive and model the change.
Involve employees in the change. Employees must take ownership of the change for it to be successful. Creating ways for employees to provide feedback and engage them in the process makes employees more likely to support the change.
For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.
